


What's Your Angle?

by huxduxtuxlux



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Kylux - Freeform, Lies and Deceit, M/M, Trust Issues, benarmie, classmates - Freeform, cw homophobia, cw humiliation, nasty tricks, poor bb hux
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-17 06:40:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17555306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huxduxtuxlux/pseuds/huxduxtuxlux
Summary: Hux doesn't trust anyone who shows interest in him. They've always got an agenda.The characters are pretty dang out of character. Oh well.See end notes for warnings





	1. What do you want?

Hux had only been TA'ing Advanced Trig for three weeks, but he was already sick to death of the freshman and sophomores in the class. Most of them napped and drooled throughout the lectures, then emailed him in a panic at 1 am before the weekly quizzes, saying they didn't understand the material. Usually he just ignored them, but when he did respond, he left it simply at "stay awake next time."

He figured this new email, from one Ben Solo, would be the same old thing. Then he remembered scoring Ben's quizzes - he'd gotten 100% on all of them. So what could he want?

The email read: "Hey Hux. I've been thinking about TA'ing a math class next semester and wanted to know more about what it's like. Can I buy you coffee and we can talk?"

Hux hit "delete" and closed his laptop.

* * *

After class the next day, a student in the back took an absurdly long time to pack up. Hux groaned and tapped his foot - he couldn't lock up the room until everyone left. The student glanced up self-consciously, flipping back long dark hair. He had a smattering of moles across his face, a large but elegant nose, and a crooked, shy smile. Not that Hux cared. Not really. 

"Are you almost finished?" Hux asked, eyeing the maddeningly slow way the student's long fingers gathered his papers.

"Uh, yeah, sorry," the student said, voice deep and resounding. "Actually, I, uh, I wanted to ask-"

"My office hours are 2-4 on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"No, I know, I just...did you get my email last night?"

Hux shrugged. "Probably. What's your name, again?"

"Ben. Ben Solo?"

"What, you're not sure?" Hux scoffed.

"No, I just...we had Calc together last fall. You sat in front of me every day. I guess I'm just...surprised you don't remember me."

Hux rolled his eyes. "You emailed about being a TA next semester?"

Ben seemed to perk up a little at that. "Yeah! Could I buy you coffee and we could talk about it?"

"I don't drink coffee." Hux said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, ok..."

"I'm going to lunch. You can ask me questions while I eat if you really want to."

"Ok! Great!"

 

* * *

Hux ate his grilled chicken and side salad on a stool in the cafeteria, while Ben Solo wolfed down a burger beside him, asking questions between mouthfuls. "How many hours a week do you spend grading quizzes? Do you have to make all the copies and stuff? Do you get paid a lot? Are the students annoying?"

Hux sighed. "2 hours, I'm efficient. Yes, but again, I'm efficient. No, but it's better than working in the cafeteria. And yes. The students are very annoying."

"You're a Junior, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you TA'd before?"

"Yes, last semester."

"So you must like it to do it again."

"It's fine. It's extra money and good experience for my resume."

"Hmm." Ben dabbed the ketchup off his cheek and took a swig of his Coke. Hux wondered how someone who ate so poorly could be in such good shape. Must work out a lot, he thought. Looks like he could lift a truck.

"Well, I know you don't drink coffee, but could I take you for tea or something? A smoothie?"

Hux looked at him, face scrunched in horror. "Why?"

"What do you mean, why?" Ben laughed.

"I mean, why? You just asked me your questions, what else do you want from me?"

Ben colored all the way to the tips of his ears. "I dunno, I just...want to get to you know, I guess."

"Why?" Hux asked again.

"Because I think we'd have a lot in common, and you're cute, and-"

"Nice try." Hux rose quickly, grabbing his tray and storming away to the bussing station, then out of the cafeteria. 

Ben sat, dumbfounded.

 

* * * *

Hux felt his eyes stinging as he made his way back to his dorm room. He blamed the wind. At least he stopped it before it started. He wasn't going to play the fool again, that was for damn sure.

Hux didn't know why, but he found himself on Facebook looking up the profile of Michael O'Hara. His first real crush. Piece of shit.

Michael's Facebook showed him happy and glowing, varsity rower at Duke, pretty blonde girl on his arm. Senior year of high school he had been similar, though (to Hux's knowledge) single. Well-liked, handsome, charming, athletic, but not your stereotypical dumb jock. Hux always thought he was deeper, more complex. Maybe he had just been hypnotized by those chocolate brown eyes.

Hux's attraction to Michael had been all too obvious, and Michael was encouraging. He would smile at him in the hallways, tell him he looked nice, invited him to sit with him and his friends at lunch. Hux basked in his warmth. It wasn't long before Michael was inviting Hux to his place to study. 

Hux glowed, telling Phasma and Mitaka with great excitement, "A study date! I have a study date with Michael O'Hara!"

His friends were excited for him. They thought this was their way up the food chain. And they liked how much more pleasant Hux was since spending time with Michael. Not so snippy. Funnier.

Hux ended up doing his and Michael's homework on the study dates, but so what? He only did Michael's problems for him so Michael could whip up his famous nachos for them to share. And he only washed Michael's car to show off how good he was with a waxer. And he only bought him new clothes to show his adoration through tangible gifts. It wasn't one-sided, Hux insisted, because Michael did things for him, too. He made him nachos and invited him to games and complimented his hair. Hux was sure this was the beginning of something special.

After about a month and a half of this, it seemed things were really starting to ramp up. Michael asked him to meet him in the park on Saturday night, 10 pm. What for, Hux had asked, stomach flipping with anticipation. "A surprise," Michael had said with a warm smile. 

This was it. This was everything. He spent hours picking out an outfit, fixing his hair, covering up his zits, fashioning a ladder out of sheets to sneak out the window with. This was the stuff of teen romances, of fairytales and dreams. This was it.

Hux stood below the big pine tree in Wirth Park, as instructed. He was a couple minutes early, as was his nature. He popped an Altoid and then another, chewing in anticipation. Then, in the distance, he saw a figure approaching.

This was it! He swiped some Chapstick over his lips and bounced on his toes. It was a chilly night but what did he care? He had Michael, and young love, to warm him up.

It felt like years went by, but finally Michael stood in front of him, handsome as ever. He handed Hux a single rose. Hux nearly fainted.

"Wow, Michael, thank you, I-"

"Shh," said Michael, holding a finger to Hux's lips. "You don't have to say anything."

Hux nodded. Michael continued. "I can't believe how lucky I am to have met you, you know. You are so incredible."

"Michael, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that."

Michael smiled. "There's something I want to give you."

"You already gave me a rose."

"Something else. Something more." Michael placed a hand on Hux's hip and leaned in close. He undid a button on Hux's shirt and whispered into his ear, "can I show you how I feel about you?"

Hux nodded eagerly. "Y-yes, please. I...I really think I've fallen in love with you, Michael, I can't believe you-"

Michael kissed his cheek softly. "Take your clothes off."

Hux did as instructed, quickly and chaotically. He watched Michael, smoothly undoing his own buttons one by one. Hux stood naked in the grass, eyes blown wide. Michael's shirt was almost loose when he said, "Shit! I forgot the condoms in my car. I'll be right back! Wait here."

He pressed another kiss to Hux's cheek before scampering away to the car. Hux could feel the blood rushing south. His excitement was getting the best of him. He stood their talking to himself: "deep breaths, calm down. You can do this. This is what you've wanted. It's going to be amazing. Deep breaths."

Suddenly, he heard a rustling. "Michael? Hello?"

But it wasn't Michael. It was coming from up above, in the tree. He looked up, and before he knew it, he was covered in sticky, cherry-scented slime.

Then he heard laughter. And digital clicks and flashes. When he wiped the goop away from his eyes, he nearly burst into tears. At least two dozen teenagers laughed and jeered, snapping pics on their phones, of the naked gay loser covered in cherry lube. 

He had been Carrie'd and She's All That'd and completely humiliated. And that was the worst night of Hux's life.

* * * *

Hux would never let himself be fooled, taken advantage of, or duped again. Now he knew better. Knew better than to believe some pretty boy would be remotely interested in him. He didn't know what exactly Ben's angle was, but he knew it couldn't be good. Good thing he put a stop to it before it even began.


	2. Rotation

A few days later, Hux goes to check his campus mailbox. He finds a flyer for a comedy troupe's show, voter registration info, and a small envelope with his name scrawled across in messy capital letters. On principle, Hux would prefer to wait till he was at home in private before opening a letter, but his complete inability to even guess who it could be from got the best of him, and curiosity won out. He leaned next to the package pickup booth and carefully slid his finger under the flap.

Inside the envelope he found a note card sized card, the cover of which showed a dog with cartoonishly enlarged eyes. Pink bubble letters below it said, "I'm sorry..." Hux opened the card to find a note written in the same messy scrawl as his name was. It read:

Hey Hux,

I'm sorry I offended you the other day. I'm not totally sure what I did that set you off but I'm sorry anyway. Hope you're ok. If it's because you're not gay or you don't want people to know you are, I get that, and I'm sorry for putting you on the spot in a semi-public place. Anyway, if you need to talk or anything you can totally text me. 6515553472. - Ben Solo

Acutely aware of tension in his forehead area, Hux realized he's eyebrows were raised to high heavens. He carefully relaxed the muscles, threw the note in his messenger bag, and returned to his dorm, trying not to give it another thought.

 

* * *

When Hux arrived to class the next day, 20 minutes early as usual, he was surprised to discover the classroom was already occupied. Ben Solo sat in the back row, absorbed in something on the screen of his laptop. Hux was able to slip out of the doorway unseen and quickly rushed to the bathroom. 

"He's never on time," Hux said to himself. "He's here early to talk to me. Shit."

Hux considered faking a gastrointestinal problem (and if his anxiety kept up, he wouldn't exactly be being dishonest in saying so) and skipping class, but a few deep breaths helped him get his head on straight. "I am an adult," Hux said. "I am in control. I will not let an uncomfortable situation ruin my day, nor my reputation as the best TA in the math department. No, sir. Okay. Here we go."

So he walked into the classroom, eyes fixed on his own desk near the projector, doing his best to look as though he has noticed no one else in the room.

Ben let him settle in, taking out his laptop and notebook and arranging his pens on the desk, before clearing his throat.

Hux tried to act surprised but uninterested. "Oh. Hello, Ben."

"Hi, Hux."

Hux typed gibberish on his laptop to look busy.

"Did you happen to get my note?" Ben asked, hope all too apparent in his voice.

"Did I...? Hmm, oh, yes, I did. Thank you."

"I really am sorry. I just sort of wish I knew what exactly I said...I mean, so I don't make the same mistake again." Ben seemed to blush behind his long hair. "It's kind of stupid but I've never really asked anyone out before, and obviously I royally fucked it up, but I don't know which part of it I fucked, exactly."

Hux looked at Ben carefully. He looked sincere, but so had Michael. Hux had been manipulated by pouty lips and pretty brown eyes before - he wouldn't let it happen again.

Finally, Hux spoke. "I don't date." It was stated as a fact, non-negotiable. No blame, no shame, just what it was.

"Oh," Ben said, surprised. "That's...okay, thank you for telling me."

Hux nodded curtly. He hoped that put a nail in the conversation coffin.

"Hey Hux?" Ben asked. Hux groaned internally.

"Hmm?"

"Would you want to hang out as friends, maybe? Or, not even friends necessarily, but...well, I think it would be nice to have someone to study with or have lunch with sometimes? Friendly acquaintances, I guess? Maybe that's stupid, I just thought since I see you by yourself a lot, and I'm by myself a lot, and like I said before I think we'd have a lot in comm-"

"Ben." Hux cut off the rant.

"Yeah?" Ben raised his head, hopeful.

"I will eat lunch with you tomorrow. We'll see about the rest."

Ben beamed as though he won some kind of long-fought victory. Something hot and sharp flashed inside Hux's chest, a distant memory of how he felt when Michael first invited him to have lunch with him and his cool friends. But Ben didn't have cool friends. As far as Hux could tell, Ben didn't have friends at all.

* * *

They had lunch together in the cafeteria on Thursday, and again on Friday. Mostly Ben talked and Hux chewed, half listening, half trying to figure out what Ben would want out of him, anyway. He certainly didn't need his homework done for him, and he didn't have the social capital necessary to really humiliate Hux in some grand prank. Maybe he thought he could get some recommendations out of him? Or maybe he thought, based on Hux's perfectly shiny shoes, that Hux had money. Perhaps he was desperate to lose his virginity and figured Hux would be an easy, equally desperate partner. Maybe he was just lonely.

That seemed the most likely answer. Ben was lonely. Hux was, too, though he'd never admit it. He was lonely on purpose, lonely as a means of self-preservation. If he really needed someone to talk to, he could call Phasma or Mitaka. That could be enough. It had been so far.

Ben invited Hux to his dorm to study, but Hux was cautious (what if Ben was a murderer?) and preferred to be on neutral ground. He suggested the library instead and Ben agreed readily, happy to get to spend some more time with Hux.

This became routine. They ate lunch together every weekday and followed lunch with an hour or so study/homework session on the third floor of the library. Ben always did 95% of the talking, and he could be a little grating after a while, but Hux had to admit it was nice to spend time - low-stakes, unimportant time - with someone else. It was so nice, in fact, that he didn't even mind when Ben sent him memes referencing things he did not understand late at night. Sometimes he even laughed at them. That surprised Hux more than anything - that Ben would make him laugh. But there was something about his crooked smile, his big goofy ears, and his tendency for imaginative tangents that really endeared Hux. 

About a month after their initial strange lunch, they were seated at their usual table near the salad bar, sipping tea and waiting for the snow to stop before venturing outside. They had been discussing an old episode of Mythbusters (Ben was right - they had a lot of random interests in common) when they sort of ran out of things to say. That was fine with Hux - he sort of liked the silence. It put Ben on edge, though.

After a minute, Ben said carefully, "Hey, Hux, I was just wondering...how come you don't date?"

Hux shrugged. "I don't have time to date."

Ben shook his head and chuckled. "That's bullshit. I know your calendar. You've got loads of time."

Ben was right. Hux wasn't exactly overbooked. The truth, though, felt way too embarrassing to share.

Hux settled on sharing a very vague, watered down reason of the truth. "Some things went wrong when I tried to date before. It's too...stressful. I'd rather avoid it altogether."

Ben looked at Hux sadly. His face might've even read pity, which Hux did not want from Ben Solo. "That's sad, Hux."

Hux's clenched his teeth. "No, it's not. It's fine. I'm just...prioritizing."

"Well, I won't press anymore because I know you won't tell me anyway, and I'm happy being your friend...but I feel like I should be honest and tell you that if you were ever open to it, I would really like to...shit, how to put this?" Ben took a deep breath. "I'd like to, someday, if you want to, pursue something...romantic, I guess. With you. If you were interested."

Ben winced like he feared a punch.

"Forget it," Ben said quickly, packing his utensils onto his tray and rising to leave. "I'm sorry, Christ, I can never just leave well enough alone! Shit. Forget I said anything. Fuck, I've ruined it all, haven't I? Jesus, okay, I'm going to leave now."

And he did. Ben bussed his tray and flew out of the cafeteria. Just as Hux had a month ago.

Hux just sat there, stunned and silent.

* * *

The following week Hux looked for Ben at lunch, but he was nowhere to be seen. He'd probably deliberately started coming at a different time than Hux. He tried to talk to him before or after class, too, but Ben would sneak in a few minutes late and out a few minutes early. Hux hadn't texted him, unsure how to - Ben had always initiated their digital conversations. But the fact was, quite simply, Hux missed spending time with Ben. 

And the more he thought about it, he didn't just miss spending time with Ben, but he missed looking at him, missed being near him and inhaling his fresh shampoo scent, missed watching the way his large hands spread over his notebook. In his absence, it became clear to Hux that Ben was both a good companion and, well, to be a bit crude...a hot piece of ass. Of course, Hux had noticed Ben's offbeat handsomeness early on - it was one of the reasons he was so skeptical of his intentions in the first place - but he didn't expect to feel a genuine pull to him. But he did. And he missed him. He found himself stealing glances in Ben's direction during class, willing Ben's eyes to meet his own, but they never did. Hux felt that aching, pining feeling of desire, that feeling he had suppressed for over three years...it was coming out, and it was coming out in full force.

And now, it seemed, it wouldn't be so dangerous to let it. Ben was simply too awkward, too unsmooth and inexperienced, too dorky and too embarrassingly honest to have a hidden agenda. Ben liked him. Truly. Hux didn't know why, couldn't imagine what Ben saw in him, but knew he saw something and felt something special. Ben was trying to offer him the real deal, real affection and companionship. And Hux...Hux had no idea how to accept that.

Hux rolled these thoughts around in his brain and on his tongue for days and days, trying to produce an action plan. As he was cleaning out his messenger bag, an idea presented itself.

* * *

Ben didn't leave class early today. In fact, he sat in the back of the classroom, head down and foot tapping, until everyone but Hux had left. Hux tried to hide the expectant look on his face.

Finally, Ben spoke. "I, um, I got your card. Er, my card." Ben held up the card. "I, uh, I like what you wrote."

Hux smiled. "I sort of forgot what I said. Can you read it to me?"

Ben smirked and rolled his eyes. He put on a stiff, almost posh accent and read: 

"Dear Ben, I'm sorry for all the non-clarity. The truth is I'm very skeptical of people who show interest in me because I've been awfully embarrassed before. So I kind of just chose to ignore romance - and good looking guys like you - as much as I could. But as we've gotten to know each other I've gotten to like spending time with you more than I thought I would. And now that we haven't been spending time together I've noticed myself missing you. And I guess this is just a long way of saying that if you're still interested, I, too, am interested in pursuing something 'romantic' with you, too."

Hux felt himself redden. "Why do you make me sound like the Queen of England?"

Ben shrugged and rose from his desk.

"Well?" Hux asked, clearing his throat. "Are you still...are you still interested?"

Standing in front of him now, Ben leaned forward, his hands on Hux's desk for support, and placed his forehead gently against Hux's. Hux practically gasped at the gesture, which seemed somehow more intimate than a kiss. "Yes." Ben said softly. "Yes, I'm still interested."

It took only a slight upward tilt of the chin for Hux to catch Ben's mouth against his. And though it was tentative, rushed, and a bit sloppy, it was, above all else, honest.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by tumblr user highfemmehux's post.
> 
> Warning: Hux is super manipulated in a flashback. He is pranked to the point of public nudity, sort of sexual humiliation? Also homophobia.


End file.
